Young, Cabrera lead Padres past Diamondbacks 6-3

Apr 7, 2010 - 6:17 AM
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer

PHOENIX(AP) -- Chris Young made a sparkling season debut in his
comeback from shoulder surgery.

The big right-hander allowed one hit through six innings, Everth
Cabrera drove in four runs with a triple and a double, and the
San Diego Padres held on to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 on
Tuesday night.

Brandon Webb of Arizona, Jeff Francis of Colorado and Erik
Bedard of Seattle had the same kind of operations last year, and
all three started the season on the disabled list.

Young, who underwent surgery in August, realizes how fortunate
he is.

"Before the game, the national anthem, I just took it in a
little bit and tried to savor that," he said. "I'm very
fortunate to be back out there. Some guys are struggling with
similar types of surgery and I'm lucky to be out there, so I was
going to enjoy that for a few minutes."

Young (1-0), who missed the second half of last season, struck
out five and walked three. The only hit he allowed was Justin
Upton's one-out single up the middle in the fourth.

"Pretty impressive," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "I
thought he did a good job of moving the fastball up, down, in
and out. He just looked in control."

Young wrapped up his outing by striking out Adam LaRoche and
Mark Reynolds.

"I found my slider in the sixth inning," Young said. "It took me
all game to throw a couple of good sliders and finally in the
sixth inning it was there. ... For whatever reason tonight it
wasn't very good until the end, and then I threw some of my best
pitches and I was happy with that."

Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez hit his second ninth-inning solo
home run in two days.

Edwin Jackson (0-1) lasted five innings in his Diamondbacks
debut, allowing three runs and five hits, including a solo homer
by Will Venable.

"It definitely was an adrenaline rush," Jackson said. "You have
to step back off the mound and calm down and take a deep breath,
but overall, for a first start, I felt pretty good. I'll just
keep building off of it as the season progresses."

Cabrera, who went 3 for 4, matched his career high with four
RBIs. The 23-year-old shortstop, batting eighth in San Diego's
lineup, doubled in two runs off Jackson in the second and
tripled in two more off reliever Leo Rosales in the sixth.

"As he moves forward in his career we think you'll see more of
that," Black said. "We don't want to put a lot of pressure on
this young man just yet. He's still settling in to an everyday
shortstop at a young age, and he's doing just fine."

Cabrera twisted an ankle in the seventh inning but stayed in the
game and said afterward it was no big deal.

Heath Bell, the NL saves leader with 42 last year, pitched a
scoreless ninth for his first this season.

Jackson, acquired from Detroit in the offseason for right-handed
starter Max Scherzer and left-handed prospect Daniel Schlereth,
struck out five and walked one but had trouble with the bottom
part of the San Diego batting order.

The Padres took a 2-0 lead in the second when Chase Headley and
Nick Hundley singled, then scored on Cabrera's double to the
left-center gap. Venable's shot to right, on a 3-2 pitch with
one out in the fourth, made it 3-0.

A single by Headley, followed by Rosales' two-out walk of
Hundley, set up Cabrera's triple, also to left-center, that put
the Padres up 5-0.

With Young gone, Arizona scored three in the seventh against
three relievers.

Gonzalez's homer off Chad Qualls in the ninth wrapped up the
scoring.

Stephen Drew made a leaping grab of Hundley's line drive to
shortstop in the fourth inning and, in center field, Arizona's
Chris Young charged to make a diving catch of Tony Gwynn's
blooper in the sixth.

NOTES: Arizona's Chris Young is 0 for 16 in his career against
San Diego's Chris Young. ... 3B Headley committed his second
error in two days but made a pair of nice backhanded stabs later
in the game. ... Diamondbacks newcomers LaRoche and Kelly
Johnson are a combined 0 for 15 through the first two games. ...
The Padres' Young is 28-2 in his career when receiving five runs
of support.

41roots

** CONFIRMED **NLSAN DIEGO 6ARIZONA 3 FINAL

Apr 7 1:03 AM

41roots

NLAT ARIZONA - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY ADRIAN GONZALEZ (2) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 1OUT IN THE 9TH OFF CHAD QUALLS.CURRENT SCORE: SAN DIEGO 6, ARIZONA 3DUE UP FOR SAN DIEGO: M ADAMS (-, 0 HR, 0 RBI)